1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anastomotic instrument that is inserted into the alimentary canal of a living body in conjunction with an insert section of an endoscope and anastomoses tissue of the alimentary canal, and an endoscope system having the anastomotic instrument, and a control method of the anastomotic instrument.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
In a medical field, a surgical operation dealing with anastomosis by which the alimentary canal is partly removed and joined again is performed, in order to resect living body tissue of a tumor or the like that is borne in the interior wall of the alimentary canal such as the large and small intestine. An anastomotic instrument used in the anastomosis is composed of an insert section to be introduced into the alimentary canal, a handling section provided at a proximal end of the insert section, a cylindrical cutter provided at a distal end of the insert section to remove a tumor, and a stapler provided around the cutter to catch and join circumferential edges of the alimentary canal resected by the cutter by striking a staple (needle) therein (For example, Japanese Patent No. 4223656 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2004-65476 and 2004-89442).
When anastomosis is performed on the alimentary canal with use of the above anastomotic instrument, an image capturing device such as an endoscope is prepared separately, and is inserted into the alimentary canal from a position different from that of the anastomotic instrument. Thus, the anastomosis is carried out, while a position of living body tissue to be resected is checked with the image capturing device. In another case, if living body tissue to be resected is situated near an entrance of the alimentary canal, a distance to the tissue may be measured in advance by the image capturing device, palpation, or the like, in order to adjust an insertion amount of the anastomotic instrument in accordance with the measured distance.
However, the alimentary canal includes organs into which only the anastomotic instrument can be inserted, but the image capturing device cannot be inserted from a position different from that of the anastomotic instrument. Furthermore, if living body tissue to be resected is in the depths of the alimentary canal far from its entrance, a distance to the tissue cannot be measured in advance. Therefore, the surgical operation using the conventional anastomotic instrument cannot be performed in those cases. The living body tissue requiring the anastomosis is situated in various positions, and it is desirable to allow resection of the living body tissue even in the depths of the alimentary canal.